Hell on Earth
by Poetry and Punk Rock
Summary: S2AU. Something goes wrong when Buffy tries to stop Acathla from releasing hell on earth. Buffy leads a small band of humans fighting to survive in a world where everyone, human and demon, is an enemy. It's everyone for themselves in this new violent world. When Buffy's group forms meets Spike and Drusilla's an uneasy truce is formed in an attempt to stay alive.
1. Chapter 1

Hell on Earth

A/N: End of Season 2 AU. Major changes: Acathla does not suck the world into Hell but instead releases hell on Earth. According to Giles and Willows research the person who opens Achathla must be killed in order to seal the portal to Hell. This is just a very short prologue to set things up.

Prologue: Becoming

"Wh-Where are we? I-I don't remember." Watching Angel on his knees before her, blood still rushing with adrenaline from their fight, Buffy is briefly confused for a moment but then the realization hits her. Angelus has gone, in front of her is-

"Angel?"

"You're hurt." He sounds so gentle, so concerned as he reaches for her arm to examine her wound and she can't help herself, she falls into his arms to embrace him, feeling tears start to build as her body relaxes for what feels like the first time in a very long time.

"Oh, Buffy, God, I feel like I haven't seen you in months." When she opens her eyes though, the tears of relief become tears of grief because she had forgotten for a moment that Acathla was open, ready to unleash Hell on Earth. She had forgotten and now she is staring into the face of her responsibility as the Chosen One and it is as cold and unmovable as a statue. "Oh my God, everything's so muddled. I…Oh. Oh, Buffy." Angel is crying too, now. He is still obviously confused and a little scared and she can see the love and the trust and concern in his eyes as he asks "What's happening?" but she just steels herself and lays a finger on his mouth, shushing him.

"Don't worry about it." She reassures him as she strokes his cheek, leans in to kiss him as the swirling vortex behind him grows wider. For just a moment she considers just letting it continue to grow, facing Hell together with her recovered love but of course she doesn't. She pulls away, exchanges vows of love with Angel, knowing that it will be the last time and tells him to close his eyes. He hesitates, still confused but he trusts her so he closes his eyes. She looks at him standing there, kisses him again, and swings her sword.

The sword cuts through his neck quickly and, she hopes, painlessly. The next second she is alone with only a pile of dust and a still growing vortex. As Buffy stares in shock and despair she sees shapes begin to form in the vortex, getting bigger or perhaps coming closer, she can't tell. She is out of options, she has done the only thing she knows to do, what Giles and Willow told her to do after weeks of research. To close the portal and reseal Acathla, the one who released him must be killed. Well, Angel is dead and the portal is still slowly opening. She is devastated, shocked and confused and more than a little scared. So she does the only thing she can do. Buffy runs away.

A/N: I've never actually written in the present tense before, so that was a new experience. If you see anything off or if you see any errors please let me know. Any suggestions are welcome as well. I'll try to have chapter one up as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Hell on Earth

Chapter 1: It's Bad

Buffy arrives at the hospital out of breath. She takes a moment to straighten her clothes and calm down because she's learned by now that creating a scene will only slow her down more in the end. So she walks calmly into the hospital with a racing heart and a troubled mind, smiles at the receptionist and politely asks for Willow Rosenberg's room number. People are much more helpful when you smile at them in that harmless valley-girl way, she knows.

Her nose wrinkles as she opens the door, the stench reminds her of the disinvite spell so she assumes she has found the source of Angel's ill-timed resouling. Oz, Xander and Cordelia jerk their heads up in unison to stare at her and she feels like turning and running away again but she doesn't because she is the Chosen One and the portal is still open and her job is not done so she steps fully into the room, closing the door behind her. Now she can see Willow, very pale and very still on the bed. She has a tiny bit of dried blood just under her nose.

"Buffy." Xander snaps out of the trance they all seem to be in, takes a couple of hesitant steps toward her, his arm halfway out like he isn't sure if he should touch her. "Buffy, are you- I mean you're ok! Are you…did you…?" He doesn't seem to know how to finish and after searching for the right words he seems to settle on, "Is it done?"

"Giles." She half shouts, clears her throat awkwardly, tries again in a more normal voice, "I-I mean, Giles, where's Giles? Is he-"

"Oh, yeah! Fine, he's fine! He's just being treated for minor injuries, they said they won't even hold him overnight." Xander interrupts.

"I need to see him." Buffy turns and starts to leave. She knows, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she should tell her friends what happened but her brain is muddled, she can't seem to force her thoughts to clear. All she can see is Angel falling into dust at her feet and each time the scene plays through her head it's like another bit of her heart is chipped away. But she knows she needs to find Giles, tell him about the portal that didn't close despite her ultimate sacrifice. Maybe there are magic words he forgot to tell her, there usually are for this kind of thing. She'll talk to Giles, get the magic words, go back and close the portal and everything will be… Well not fine, but she'll be done and then maybe she can rest and try to recover because she's in more pain than she's ever been before.

"Wait!" She pauses with her hand on the handle of the door, turns her head to look at Xander from the corner of her eye. He looks determined. "Buffy, wait. Did you do it? Did you defeat Angelus?"

"Yeah, I did it." she confesses, "I killed Angel." Her voice is tiny and she chokes a little on the words but she sees everyone in the room sag in relief, the tension noticeably leaving their bodies. She knows she should tell them about the portal but finding Giles seems more important right now. If she can just find Giles she can fix it before they even know about it, he'll have the answers like he always does.

"Good, Buff, that's good. I know it was hard but it's over and you did it! You saved the world, Buffy." Xander finishes walking towards as she turns to face him, sweeping her into his arms. If he notices that she doesn't return his hug he doesn't say anything. He pulls away and holds her at arm's length to look at her as he says "If you need anything, if there's anything we can do, we're all here for you." She can see Cordelia nodding behind him and Oz is looking at her with sympathy and understanding.

"I-" she starts to say that she won't need their help because there's nothing they can do but then she takes a moment to really look at Xander and he is so earnest and sure that he's told her the truth, that everything will be ok with time that she feels herself soften and all she can bring herself to say is, "Thanks, Xand."

"Now," she says as Xander steps back, giving her space, "I really have to find Giles." She is out of the door before they can protest.

"Geez, you'd think she'd be happier, I mean she won."

"Yeah, but she had to kill her boyfriend to do it, Cordy." Oz says as he turns back to hold Willow's hand.

"EX-boyfriend. That Ex is important! I mean, if I had to kill Mitch to save the world I'd do it in a heartbeat!" Cordelia shakes her head in exasperation.

"Well that's good to know, Cordy, I'll be sure to avoid you anytime a human sacrifice has to be made." Xander jokes as he falls into the chair beside her, dropping his arm around her shoulders to rub her arm affectionately.

"Hey, I said ex!"

"I probably should have asked what room number he was in." Buffy murmurs to herself as she makes her way back to the front desk. She could probably find out faster from her friends but she really doesn't have the will to deal with them again right now. She moves around a guy on crutches hobbling down the hall with the help of a young woman who is probably his girlfriend judging by the gooey way she's looking at him and tries hard not to resent them. She tries not to think about the unfairness that is them being all together and in love when she is the one who saved the world and keeps saving the world and apparently still doesn't get any happiness.

She takes a deep, calming breath through her nose as she steps into the empty elevator and pushes the button for the ground floor. She lets her head fall back onto the cool metal wall and just breaths for a moment until the 'ding' of the elevator brings her to attention. It's not her floor though, just a woman getting on. The woman looks like she slept in the clothes she's wearing, the scarf on her head is askew and her eyes are red, she doesn't acknowledge Buffy as she steps into the elevator, just glances at the already lit ground floor button and stares straight ahead as the door close automatically. She is clutching something in her hand and Buffy realizes that it is a wedding band, it matches the one on the ring finger of the woman's left hand. Buffy feels, for the few brief seconds remaining in the elevator ride, that she is not so alone.

The door dings open again and Buffy makes her way through the half-filled lobby, past all of the people waiting to be seen, and to the line for the front desk. There is an older man in front of her holding a towel to his bleeding forearm and Buffy steps back a little to create more space. She looks around as she waits to give her mind something to focus on besides the pile of dust that might be permanently tattooed on her eyelids. She focuses on a family nearby, a young couple with a screaming baby. The mother is trying to shush the baby over her shoulder, patting his back and bouncing him gently. She looks stressed and tired in sweatpants and a baggy, worn tee that is probably her husband's her hair is coming out of its bun and is flying everywhere. The husband is half awake, half asleep filling out paperwork on a clipboard that someone has drawn rude things on. The line moves forward and Buffy switches her attention to an obviously drunk group of young men, college aged, who are listening to their friends tell a story about being attacked by a gang member on PCP. One of the guys is clutching at the bleeding wound on his neck while bragging about fighting the guy off, though apparently their other friend is in the emergency room.

The line moves forward again and Buffy is next so she turns and pays attention to the guy with the bleeding arm tell the receptionist that he was attacked by a giant dog. Buffy tries to remember if it's a full moon while the receptionist directs the man to triage. Then it's her turn so she approaches the desk, smiles again at the slightly chubby older woman.

"Hi! I was here earlier, about my friend Willow in 512?" She says with as much pep as she can muster.

"Oh, yes, I remember you. Did you need something else, sweetie?" The receptionist smiles kindly at her, and for a moment Buffy desperately wants her mother.

"Uh, yeah. I went to visit her and I guess my step-dad was admitted at the same time? They didn't know his room number though so can you help me? His name is Rupert Giles."

"Sure, let me just see here." The woman pushes a few strands of her short brown hair behind her ear as she bends over the keyboard. She types a few things into the computer and then looks back to Buffy. "He's already been seen, he should be coming out as soon as they're done treating him since he's not being admitted. You can have a seat and wait for him if you like."

"I can't go back to see him now?"

"No, I'm afraid not, the doctor is done with him though so it shouldn't be too much longer, honey. They're just waiting for the discharge paperwork"

"Ok, thanks." Buffy sighs as she turns around and makes her way to the least occupied portion of the room to wait.

She must fall asleep because the next thing Buffy knows she is being shaken awake by Giles.

"Buffy. Buffy, wake up." She opens her eyes to see his concerned face and he takes his hand off of her shoulder as he straightens. She blinks a few times and everything doesn't come rushing back to her because it never left. She had slept without rest, the knowledge of Angel' death and the portals ominous presence a constant in her mind. She stands and embraces Giles, who seems unsure of what to do but he hugs her back awkwardly. The feel of him, alive and well, comforts her. She is careful not to squeeze him too tightly as she buries her face in his chest and allows herself a moment of security.

"I am so glad to see you Buffy. We were all tremendously worried for you." Giles is still standing stiffly but he is gently patting the back of her head.

"I know, I was worried about you too. I was so scared we were too late, Giles." Buffy pulls away to look at him and feels a very small burst of happiness deep down inside her. The love of her life may be dead but here is Giles and he is alive when he might not have been and that can be nothing but good. "Giles, we need to talk."

Giles must hear the urgency in her voice because he looks around the room before muttering "Of course." and leading her to the door. She turns them towards the elevator though and when Giles looks at her in confusion she quickly explains with a whispered "Willow." Understanding crosses his face and he follows her onto the elevator, watching as she pushes the button for the fifth floor. He waits for the door to close before turning to her.

"Buffy, I must ask, were you successful in defeating Angelus?" he is looking at her with sympathy, at least, which is better than the relief and happiness of her friends.

"I did. I had to. I had to kill him. Giles, he'd already opened Acathla." Giles actually looks surprised, like he'd expected her to stop Angel before he'd actually started the world-endage. But the next moment he his expression is nothing but compassionate.

"I am aware that it was a profoundly difficult thing for you, Buffy, but you had no choice. Even without the need to close Acathla, Angelus needed to be stopped. He would have kept killing without remorse."

"I know. I know Angelus had to be stopped and he was." She tried to look firm and strong, "But Giles, something's wrong, I killed Angel and the portal didn't close. It's still open and the last time I saw it, it was getting bigger."

"Dear lord! Buffy are you sure? You must tell me exactly what-" Giles is cut off by the ding of the elevator door opening to their floor. The step off and he lowers his voice as they walk the short distance to Willow's room, "You must tell me exactly what happened Buffy, everything you can remember."

"I did what you said," Buffy says as she opens the door to Willows room. The room is more brightly lit than it was before, the setting sun shining through the window, "Angelus opened the portal and I dusted him, cut off his head but the portal didn't close, it kept growing. Willow is sitting up but hasn't turned to look at them. Buffy looked from Willow to the others who were gathered by the window, quietly watching the sun set.

"Are you sure, Buffy? You were possibly in shock, perhaps the portal was shrinking but too slowly for you to notice. All of the texts say that Acathla is to be closed by the death of the one who opens it." Giles says as he follows her in. Buffy makes her way through the gap between the foot of the bed and the wall and over to the others and Giles follows, intent on getting more satisfactory answers from her.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure." She says wryly as she looks to the setting sun which is not, in fact, a setting sun but a portal, glowing red and orange and huge on the other side of town. It is as big as the mansion it had been contained in by now and horrible, otherworldly shapes are pouring out in a slow but steady stream. Giles follows her line of vision and gasps, a quick and quiet intake of breath. They all stand together, watching the end of the world.


End file.
